ESPE Abstracts

Background: The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis displays a diurnal rhythm, peaking in the morning and with a nadir at night. However, not much is known about the development of the HPA- axis, although strikingly some evidence suggests that a rhythm with a peak in the afternoon is already present antenatally. We aimed to describe HPA-axis activity at age 1 month as well as study possible influencing factors.Methods</stro...

Background/ Aims: Hyperuricemia (HU) is a frequent finding in childhood obesity, ranging between 12 and 40%, and associates to a variable extent with different components of the metabolic syndrome (MS). In this study, the effect of gender, (a Belgian native vs a non-Belgian native) descent and degree of general and central adiposity on serum uric acid (SUA) and the prevalence of HU was investigated in a multi-ethnic population of overweight/obese children and ...

Background and aims. In several European countries, the incidence of primary congenital hypothyroidism (PCH) seems to increase in the last decade, especially in countries that have lowered the newborn screening TSH cutoff. In Flanders, two centers manage since 2012 the newborn screening for PCH and these maintained the same TSH assay (Delphia, Perkin Elmer) and cutoff (15 mU/l). We studied the current incidence and etiology of PCH and initiation of thyroxine treatment in Fland...

Background: Growth hormone therapy can be indicated for children who are born small for gestation age (SGA) (either birth weight or birth height < -2 SDS) without catch-up growth (height < -2.5 SDS) at age 4 years. Growth hormone therapy is considered a safe treatment.Case presentation: A 12-year-old girl was referred to the pediatric endocrinologist for short stature. She was born small for gestational age (birth ...

Background: ROHHADNET syndrome is characterised by rapid onset childhood obesity, hypoventilation, variable hypothalamic-pituitary and autonomic dysfunction, and neuroendocrine tumors in 30–40%. Autoimmunity and paraneoplastic syndrome have been proposed as possible pathophysiological mechanisms, but the exact aetiology remains unclear.Objective and hypotheses: We present the clinical course of ROHHADNET syndrome in a 17-year-old girl, with consecut...

Background: In diabetic athletes, glycogen depletion can contribute to the early development of starvation ketones as is demonstrated by our patient.Case presentation: Our patient, a 15-year-old male triathlete with type 1 diabetes for 5 years was referred to our tertiary center because of suboptimal regulation on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). He frequently awoke with nausea and ketosis, which was initially attributed to failure of ins...

Pediatric severe obesity is a major threat to health and longevity. Around 7% of children worldwide have early onset severe obesity before the age of 7. Pediatric obesity is caused by an interplay of multiple factors: lifestyle, environmental, sociocultural, psychological, biological and genetic factors. Endocrine, monogenetic or syndromal causes are rare, but currently underdiagnosed and important to identify for the need of specific treatment. Cardiovascular risk factors and...

This presentation briefly gives an overview of typical gynaecological issues and fertility options of transgender adolescents.Typical gynaecological complaints and treatment options will be addressed: e.g. amenorrhea induction prior to cross-sex hormones, irregular bleeding, dysmenorrhea, vaginal discharge but also the limitations of gynaecological examination in female asssigned adolescents.National and international organizations...

Central hypothyroidism can be best defined as lower than desirable thyroid hormone production and secretion because of insufficient stimulation of a normal thyroid gland by a defective pituitary or hypothalamus, resulting in a too low plasma or serum (free) thyroxine (FT4) concentration accompanied by a more or less normal thyrotropin (TSH) concentration. Central hypothyroidism can occur isolated or as part of multiple pituitary hormone deficiency and can be a congenital or ac...

Central hypothyroidism (CeH) can be defined as a lower than desirable secretion of thyroid hormone by a normal thyroid gland resulting from (quantitative or qualitative) insufficient TSH secretion. Causes are congenital and acquired functional or anatomic defects of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland or both. CeH can be difficult to diagnose, especially in children without a history of brain defects or brain damaging treatment (e.g. irradiation), and when plasma FT4 concentrati...